Japanese boffins have come up with an iPod controller that uses your eyes to control the screen.

The kid looks like a normal set of headphones but is fitted with a set of infrared sensors that measure tiny movements inside the ear that result from different facial expressions.

Dubbed the 'Mimi Switch' or "Ear Switch"the kit is connected to a micro-computer that can control electronic devices It could be used for more than just the iPod too. Inventor, Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Osaka University, said that the kit could be able to turn on room lights or swing your washing machine into action with a quick twitch of your mouth.

The iPod start or stop music when the wearer sticks his tongue out. Which is something that Apple fanboys should do a lot of the time, particularly when they are near someone built like an East German athlete who can take offence easily.

He expects it to be in the shops in about three years, after which the Apple iPod fad will have long since passed.